Why Young Living?

Why Young Living?
With tons and TONS of brands of essential oils on the market these days, a big question is "why Young Living?" Let's chat about it!

There are a few reasons I only get my essential oils from YL, but the biggest reason is because there are hardly ANY regulations on essential oils. Crazy, right?! Unlike food, you can't rely on labels to tell you what's inside.

For example, companies are allowed to claim a bottle of oil contains 100% pure essential oil (frankincense, for example) but it only ACTUALLY has to contain 5% of said oil. So, the other 95% could be chemical extenders, synthetic fragrances, fillers, etc. But the bottle will say 100% pure. Ummmm… what?!

So if there aren’t any regulations placed on any companies, then what makes Young Living any different?

Young Living has what is called their ‘Seed to Seal’ promise. They own their own farms, or partner with farms around the world, and run their own distilleries, all of which are onsite on their farms (no other essential oil company in the world has this!). From the time they plant seeds on their own farms (which they only use essential oils on for pest control, no pesticides or anything unnatural) to the time they seal the bottles, they are in full control of the process. So, the most quality control any brand can offer. In a market full of essential oils that you can’t necessarily trust their labels, I find a lot of comfort spending my money on a company that is totally transparent about their process. And not only are they very transparent, but they are also passionate about their hands on farming practices. They truly practice the art of organic farming and take so much pride in their old school methods. In fact, you can even go visit their farms! You can explore, chat with the farmers, feel the soil with your own hands, smell the plants with your own nose, view oils distilling with your own eyes. They have nothing to hide, which is why I trust them and only them.


The other main reason is because Young Living’s oils obtain the plant material's therapeutic properties. YL distills each and every one of its oils to ensure they reach their highest potential. Some distillations are fairly short, and others take much longer. Less expensive oils, like the ones you see at health food stores or on Amazon, will generally just distill all of their oils for the same amount of time, across the board. Meaning they're really only suitable for fragrance and they are devoid of all of the powerful benefits that therapeutic oils contain. There is so much that goes into properly distilling essential oils, and Young Living does it right!

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE!
CYPRESS ESSENTIAL OIL: which has 280 known chemical constituents.
* If it is distilled for 20 hours you only get 20 properties.
* If distilled for 26 hours you get NONE of the properties. 
* Most market cypress is distilled for 3.5 hours. 
* The correct length of time for distilling cypress is 24 hours to get the full 280 properties. 
If you want Cypress to do the job it is intended to do, you MUST get ALL 280 constituents, no more, no less. Most people don't realize essential oils have chemical properties in them and in order to get the full benefit out of that particular oil it has to be grown, harvested, and distilled the correct way or the oil contains no benefit to us. 🤯


If you want to truly have the transformative experience that I’ve had with oils, and to really experience the true power of plants, you have got to get the good stuff! You definitely get what you pay for! 🙂 Are you ready to dive in? Join me and grab a starter bundle here.

The dirty truth about your household cleaners

The dirty truth about your household cleaners

The dirty truth about your household cleaners

Real talk: Most commercial cleaning products are full of super nasty, get-that-away-from-me ingredients. We know—it’s a total bummer! No stress though; I'll walk you through why and how you can stop settling and start choosing home-cleaning superstars.
Read on for the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your household cleaning products.

How toxic are my household cleaners?

At the risk of being the bearer of bad news, your run-of-the-mill cleaners are incredibly toxic.

According to the American Lung Association, the ingredients in most commercial solutions, sprays, and scrubs can:

  • Be air pollutants
  • Be harmful chemicals
  • Be flammable or corrosive
  • Irritate eyes and/or throat
  • Cause headaches
  • Contribute to health problems like chronic respiratory problems and allergies

Not only are these ingredients problematic, but they’re pretty far from your “let’s go green!” goals. Choosing cleaners with naturally derived ingredients is a win for you and a win for Mother Earth.

Yikes! Anything else I need to know?

Unfortunately, yes.

Brace yourself—manufacturers aren’t even legally required to list all ingredients. It sounds CRAZY, but toxic ingredients could be lingering in your laundry detergents and floor cleaners without you even knowing about it.
For example, some products such as carpet cleaners and dishwasher liquid release VOCs—volatile organic compounds. Experts say that some VOCs can irritate eyes, nose, and throat; create difficulty breathing and nausea; and cause harm to the central nervous system and other organs.

Thankfully, Young Living is incredibly meticulous about which ingredients are brought into the YL family. Want a list of stuff they will never, ever, ever mix with pure and precious essential oils? Enjoy!




That’s awesome! How do I clean without harsh chemicals?

For starters, trust me and don’t use any of the ingredients linked above.

The simplest way to get the job done—check the labels. Products can be greenwashed, meaning they have packaging that advertises as “green” or “natural” but sneak unwelcome ingredients into their formulas. Yuck! Learn more about greenwashing here: What is Greenwashing?

It’s also important to remember that these issues don’t solely apply to the cleaning aisle. When shopping for candles and air fresheners, avoid these factory-crafted temptations. Instead, mix and match essential oils and diffuse them for personal, unique household aromas.
Ultimately, if you can find companies and products with the mission to use from-the-earth, not-harmful, naturally derived ingredients, you’re golden. May I recommend Young Living? *wink, wink*

Yay! How can I find naturally derived cleaning products?

MY number one pick always and forever: THIEVES Household Cleaner!

With a blend of spicy, brisk scents that has all the cleaning power and none of the gross additives, it should get a special spot on your shelf.
Test out how effective these products can be with Thieves Household Cleaner. With an ultra-concentrated formula that has dozens of uses, just one bottle can clean your house from top to bottom. What’s more, Thieves Household Cleaner is only the start. Try out these superstars as well:



Pro tip: Swap out your toxic hand soaps with the delicious smelling and effective Lushious Lemon Foaming Hand Soap and these 30 simple swaps!



Ready to dive deep into all things clean (ingredients and household included)? Find more tips here. Want to know why YL relies on essential oils? See how they do things differently!

What’s your favorite tried and true cleaning product?

DIY Elderberry Syrup

DIY Elderberry Syrup
Unless you've been living under a rock, you have no doubt heard some buzz about elderberry syrup. So, what’s the deal with elderberries? Elderberries are rich in vitamins A, B and C and have been a traditional cold and flu remedy for literally hundreds of years. They’re known to have high antioxidant activity and the bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice of the berry can destroy the ability of a virus to infect a cell. Whaaaaat!

I know making your own can sound a bit daunting, but I promise you it's actually really easy! And WAY more cost effective! I love to add essential oils to ours to add an extra dose of amazingness (and flavor) to our elderberry syrup. Here’s the recipe that we've been using for the past few years...

Elderberry Syrup


Pour the water into a medium saucepan and add the dried elderberries. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the liquid has reduced by almost half. Then, remove from heat and let it cool enough to be handled. Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil. I like to use a potato masher! Pour through a mesh strainer into a glass jar or bowl and try to press the berries against the strainer to get the most liquid as possible out of them. You could also use some cheesecloth, or bags like these.

Toss the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it’s no longer hot, stir in the honey and essential oils. I like to use a whisk to mix it all really well.

When everything is mixed well, pour the syrup into a large mason jar or glass bottle of some kind and store it in the fridge. We all take about a teaspoon daily as a preventative (we don't really measure, haha). To make it easy, I just pour a little into our daily shots of NingXia Red. (Side note: if you haven't learned about the incredible benefits of NingXia, ya need to ASAP. Check out my Instagram highlight where I talk about one of our biggest testimonials HERE. 



Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of the essential oils used in this recipe and what they can do for you! Most of these are the essential oil versions of the spices called for in traditional elderberry syrup recipes. Knowing that 1 drop of peppermint oil is equivalent to 26 cups of peppermint tea in potency, it’s easy to see why using oils is a no-brainer!

I highly encourage you to do some research on the benefits of the essential oils and how they help support your immune system. Your mind will be blown! If you have an Essential Oils Pocket Reference, that's a great place to start!  ;-)

Keep in mind that there are so many Vitality Oils you could choose from, so feel free to pick and choose which oils you use and how much of each you put in your syrup. This recipe can serve as a guide for you to make it just the way you like it. Too spicy? Add more honey. Too thin? Add more honey. Not enough flavor? Add more oils! It’s pretty much impossible to mess it up. Just tweak it as needed to suit your taste! 

I've put together a bundle of my favorite vitality oils for this recipe for you here: elderberry syrup bundle

Do you already take elderberry syrup? Make your own or buy it?

A few of my favorite things... {Fall 2020}

These are a few of my favorite things lately...

OK, be honest. Were you one of those people that ran out to buy all the toilet paper when this whole pandemic started? I was SO THANKFUL that I didn't have to scramble to track down toilet paper when it became scarce. Or settle for crappy industrial sized rolls from amazon like a certain friend of mine. LOL! I had already been using a toilet paper subscription company. Yup, you read that right. I was already on auto-ship for TP to be delivered to my door. And bonus: it's actually way better for the environment, the company has an amazing mission to install toilets in 3rd world countries, and they recently announced they are now a CARBON NEUTRAL company. How cool is all of that? I'm also a sucker for cute packaging and humor, which Who Gives a Crap totally nails.

Hello, my name is Steph and I'm a cold brew addict. I've been making cold brew coffee at home for yearrrrrs. I'm totally hooked. I have some every single afternoon as my treat/pick-me-up. It's prooooobably not the best habit, but it's not something I'm interested in giving up, LOL. A few months ago, I saw an ad on Instagram for this thing called a Rumble Jar. I was so intrigued and had to try one! There are a few different sizes, but since it's a daily habit of mine, I needed the biggest one (64 oz). I ordered straight from their website, but they've since made the big one available on amazon! #hiPrimeShipping After a few months of using this thing, I'm still so in love with it! Clean up is a breeze (everything can go in the dishwasher), and it makes the most perfect cold brew!


So while we're on the subject of coffee, let me tell you about my new favorite coffee mugs! They're from Swig Life. They have the most fun colors and prints, and the mugs keep my morning coffee nice and hot. This mama used to have to reheat a few times before finishing. They're dishwasher safe, but I mostly hand wash with my Thieves Dish Soap so the colors don't end up fading too quickly. Besides a few coffee mugs, I have wine cups, some skinny can coolers that keep our White Claws nice and cold, and I just got one of the new combo can coolers that holds bottles, regular cans, and also can be used as a cup! #addicted

Fall is here and the kids are hopefully going back to in-person school in about a month. Woohoo! We're ramping up on taking good care of our immune systems, and that means using all things Thieves. We can't live without the usual basics like Thieves Household Cleaner, the most amazing smelling foaming hand soap, Fruit & Veggie Soak, etc. Buuuuut now we're starting to use a lot more Thieves Essential Oil blend in our diffusers and on our bodies topically. We've also stocked up on plenty of hand sanitizer. The list of Thieves products we use goes on and on, haha! I can not imagine not having these tools going into the fall season. Have you tried any Thieves products? What's your fave? If you're curious what the big deal is about Thieves, I have a free email series for you to learn more: All Things Thieves

So near the end of summer... my beloved Maui Jim sunglasses fell off my head, onto a tile floor. Ughhhhhh! I'm still debating on sending them in for a lens replacement, but in the meantime, I needed some sunglasses. I decided to grab a few pairs from Blenders to try. They have free returns, so I ordered like 4 pairs to try on. I have 2 pairs now that I LOVE! If you're looking for some new stylish sunglasses that won't break the bank, give them a try! 
If you use my link, you'll get $20 off a $50 order!
This one seems a little silly to be excited about, haha! Over the summer, when we were packing lunches for the beach all the time, I realized I was wasting wayyyyyy too many plastic bags. I try hard to not be wasteful when it comes to disposable things like plastic bags. I also just try to avoid plastic ANYTHING whenever possible, especially when it involves contact to our food and drinks. The less my family is exposed to scary, questionable plastic materials, the better! So I decided I needed to come up with a different idea and I found these Zip Top Containers. I've had similar things in the past, but they've turned out to be a pain to clean, even in the dishwasher. Guys. These containers are SO AWESOME!! They open and close so easily, they stay open in the dishwasher so they actually get clean inside. I freaking LOVE THEM! If you're looking for a solution like this, give these a try for sure!

Tell meeee! What are a few of your favorite things right now? I'm always looking to try new things!